Chasing The Shadows
by Kotegawa Ayaka
Summary: An OC, with her childhood friend as a MC; after a reunion they team up to chase after a wanted criminal; one whose existence is similar to that of the shadows-Spider! With the help of the student in Ekoda, the magician whose after Pandora, his childhood friend and love interest not to mention the beautiful witch, together they face the adventures in their own unique way.
1. True Mirage

Its the beginning of a new day, the cherry blossoms were blooming, the birds were chirping, the sky was blue and seemed even wider than usual; a light, weak rainbow crossed the sky after it had been raining for a while, dew droplets were slowly falling from the cold surfaces of the streets and some traced the foggy windows of "her" room. The bright sun rays gently faded in- waking Yuki up. She languidly opened her pine green eyes, blinking several times to adjust her sight. Annoyed by the early beams of sunshine, she struggled a bit in her bed but eventually gave in and turned to check the time from her phone. "Its already time to wake up..." she mourned as she blew off the cover, stretching in many inhuman forms. She got up from her seemingly crowded bed, scratching the back of her brunette, messy hair as she casually strolled to the washroom to wash-up. After getting out, she seemed a little more aware of her surroundings; the messy bed, the unwanted laundry lying on the floor, the new calender and the new date,"Today is... Oh I need to hurry before I miss it!", Yuki shrieked. She wore her sailor uniform and hurriedly headed downstairs. She nibbled on a jam sandwich and had a final turn to look at her reflection- Asoaka Yuki, a tall, slender mixed female, with light, brunette hair, inherited from her Japanese deceased Father and wide eyes with pine green pupils inherited from her deceased British Mother, milk white skin and a heat warming smile that was invariably drawn on her face- "I'll be leaving now Mother, Father" she announced, looking at the picture in the photo frame, before leaving with a broken-hearted smile on her face.  
Yuki walked eagerly across the street, she put on her headphones and listened to the deep notes and tunes of the Nightingale, a song that made her feel peaceful and in harmony. She reached the crowded train station, but somehow felt uneasy riding it; it just reminded her of unnecessary memories which were graved deeply in her seemingly fragile heart, after cluttering a bit with her thoughts, her feet were lifted up and made a turn, she headed to the public restroom and exited with another transformation; from the perfect appearance of a female highschooler to a sporty tomboy, with a bun tied upwards rather than the straight,long hair opened; a pair of sneakers and her backpack. She played an active track on her MP3 player and left the restroom jogging, and continued running, until the school gate came into view.

* * *

"Good Morning,Yuki-chan!,"greeted Aoko, as her panting friend entered the classroom. "Good...Morning..Aoko-chan,"panted Yuki "We have known each other since middle-school, and yet your habits never changed! Jogging to school daily is even painful to see; I mean shouldn't beautiful girls just stare at the mirror and take care of their calories?," asked Aoko."That implies on beautiful girls, not the athletic ones" replied Yuki while walking to the restroom, in order to change back into her uniform. Yuki has always been the athletic type of a girl; jogging and running were her hobbies, that appeared to never change, she won the school marathon by first place two years in a row during middle school, also when she lived in England; she had always participated in many races and won a collection of trophies and certificates.

"Hey! Yuki-chan, did you receive any love letters or listened to confessions during the spring break?,"asked Aoko curiously in a rather teasing tone. Yuki; being a high school beauty, had always been confessed to by the boys in her school, although she always rejected them; she is still idolized by the boys and popular among the girls. "Unfortunately... I did..,"sighed Yuki, its not that she is arrogant and thinks that she is better than the others; her problem is that it is quite painful when it comes to rejecting someone's feelings where he has mustered all the courage he has got to confess; smashing one's hard work was the toughest thing she could overcome.

"And how did you overcome it this time?"Aoko wondered. "I...told them the..truth," Yuki hesitated, barely swallowing her words. Outwardly, Yuki is single, she has no crushes and if she did, it would be easy to capture him, so it was apparent that she was open for confessions and for a new love story. Yuki devoted herself to trying to be independent by working in her part-time job, getting high scores in tests and exams and keeping herself healthy physically by exercising; which was her favorite hobby; and eating healthy food. Lamentably, Yuki is the worst cook found on planet earth, usually a person's cooking is either bad or good but hers was more to the poisonous side-non-edible .

"The truth about what?,"Aoko queried."Y-you see.. I h-have a boyfriend back in my home-country; England, and obviously I can't date anyone when I already have a boyfriend" Yuki explained,'Lying is bad,'Yuki regretted in her thoughts. "What?! You.. You have a boyfriend?! Since when?," Aoko exclaimed in surprise. Aoko and Yuki have known each other since middle-school; when Yuki first joined in her second year of middle-school, Aoko became her very first friend and gradually they became best friends, and for Aoko not to know about Yuki having a boyfriend; it must have been complicated... "We have been dating since the beginning of middle-school, I didn't tell you because having a long-distance relationship is a bit of tragedy and I didn't want you to get worried," Yuki explained with cold sweats trailing off her face. "Jeez! You should tell me such important topics! I always tell you about me and... and Kaito.." she complained shyly. The loud school bell echoed across the building and the students rushed to the auditorium; all in one direction, smiling,laughing and talking "It's finally time for the opening ceremony! About the boyfriend topic... I hope that there are no hard feelings, I am sorry I didn't tell you earlier and I promise it wont happen again," Yuki, with her wide eyes looked hopefully at Aoko. Aoko gave in to the charming eyes and nodded, the girls then headed out after Yuki changed and were both walking in the hall "Yo! Aoko, Asaoka!" a familiar voice greeted from behind the girls. Aoko looked behind with an agitated frown, turning her facial features frusterated;Yuki on the other hand turned with a sigh, with a face that says 'here comes the pain'.

"What interesting features you two have there?" The boy commented with a smirk on his face. Turns out that the unwanted boy was none other than Kuroba Kaito;the one who iritates his childhood friend, Aoko, and teases his female classmate,Yuki. "I wonder who is the cause of those features?" Aoko replied with apparent annoyance. "Leaving that idiot aside, wouldn't Yuki-chan finally agree to be my girlfriend?" Kaito asked, ignoring Aoko who was practically turning on fire. The question wasn't any new, Kaito has always been asking Yuki the very same question continuously and the answer would be a no.

"She can't! Because she already has a boyfriend!,"Aoko exclaimed. At this moment the time seemed to have stopped, the busy crowd walking back and forth, paused... 'Yuki got a boyfriend!' The thought ran through all the minds, the boys nearby were close to tears and girls were dead curious to know who is the lucky guy who won the heart of the beautiful Yuki. "Oh, so you've accepted one of the boy's confession?" Kaito asked after shaking his head several times to process the thought. "I ... I never did, and never will. I've had my European boyfriend since 3 years now but it was kept a secret, and now the great secret is revealed" explained Yuki. Yes, Yuki was a bad liar, but it is true that she has someone whom she holds dear back in England, but again the possibility of the so-called boyfriend coming to Japan is close to zero and so, she would be free of confessions for a while. "And now you reveal it? Sounds suspicious to me" kaito suspected, giving her a know-it-all grin. The emphatic, clear bell rang again, giving the students final warnings to gather in the auditorium. The frozen crowd resumed walking; some trekking because of the news and some strolling around. "But Yuki still couldn't beat the Queen!" a guy admitted from behind.

The bewitching Akako; she's not Yuki's rival nor does she take Yuki's existence into account, the number of boys after the impervious Akako is beyond what's countable. A squeaky, evil-like chuckle or apparently a laugh came from behind, the girls heard the crowd of people talking and walking haphazardly; all centered around one girl...Akako. "Guess your debut is over, Asaoka-san" Akako stated proudly as the people surrounding her slowly became more organized and peaceful. "I guess so, the seat is all yours now, Koizomi-san" Yuki replied. She was the observant type, one with a very sharp eye;looking at the people, how they act, look, touch or their ways of speech gives her a complete survey of the person in front of her, not only living things but she can also deal with non-living things observing the popular Akako, Yuki deduced that Akako is one who seeks attention as if it was her fuel that she uses to recharge herself. Akako also appeared to be the type that doesn't give up to a debate, and so, Yuki was always the one to retreat first to avoid the loud fusses.

* * *

"It gives me a great pleasure to welcome all of you and chair the Opening Ceremony this morning..." The student representative greeted. Yuki was chosen to be a representative before but since she wasn't a new transfer student, she wasn't allowed to be one. The ceremony continued and the representative kept on explaining and describing the amazing facts of being a student and how being a high schooler, is only a short period of time where memories tend to be the main outcome out of this phase... "Well, if it's memories, I want to make a lot!" Aoko cheered, coming out from the auditorium. Yuki just nodded with agreement as she was lost in her thoughts, arranging her schedule for the day. "Please take a good care of me this year too, Yuki-chan" kaito teased, trying to get her out of her 'serious mood'. "It's no use.. I bet she is managing her time for the day.." Aoko explained. "Again with you thinking that you know her best, when you didn't even know that she had a boyfriend all this time" Kaito said bluntly. "That's...that's not true!...ok ... ya it is ... But.!" Aoko tried to negotiate on the topic but no matter how a person looks at it, not knowing something so important about your best friend, surely is heavy.

The first day of school passed; choosing seats, distributing textbooks, nominating a class representative and the like... All those activities seemed all normal for a High schooler, but... Yuki was no ordinary. A deep wound was rooted in her heart. She was not a fragile girl that could break easily, but a traumatic incident caused some remarkable changes in her personality...

* * *

_"Did you find any other survivor?" Asked a fireman. The flames that caught the train were monumental. The cause of the whopping fire was a bomb, one so severe that it damaged the whole track, out of 470 passengers,15 survived._

_ A 7-year-old half Japanese European girl, entered the train express with both her parents, oblivious to their surroundings and awaited danger, the decided to go on a family trip despite knowing how dangerous it is to roam in the country at that time. The young parents agreed to take their beloved daughter to a trip, after her continuos nagging. They rode the destined train and cheerfully discussed random topics. "**Dear, do you hear something?"** asked the British mother. "**It sounds like... A clock? I didn't wear my wristwatch today and... There is none around..",**replied the half Japanese father. Being Police Officers, their senses have become rather more sensitive than most people and became more accustomed to guarding their surrounding, their ears have become more sensitive, sharper eyes etc. The young daughter, Yuki, gradually started habituating her senses in order to accomplish her long awaited dream of becoming a reliable police cop like her parents. "**I think it's coming from... Under the chair? And...another from... Above?"** stated Yuki innocently yet sharply. Before the father could further investigate into the matter, "**GET AWAY! EVACUATE!**" Exclaimed the panicking Mother "it's a bomb!" She cleared passengers, immediately, while panicking, tried evacuating the place, little did they know that between 5 benches, a bomb was planted, in fact, the entire express was packed with bombs as if to assure to end the people's lives._

_The parents in topic, along with their daughter, tried escaping too, yet again their sense of responsibility dragged them behind as they helped others exit the train. "**You... Know... Who did ... This?**"panted the father as her ran, hand-in-hand with his wife and daughter on his shoulder. "**him.**.?" She replied, asking. The time wasn't on their side, the bomb's countdown never stopped,the throbbing hearts of the passengers didn't either only the time seemed to slow down or gradually stop, tiny water droplets trickled over the faces, also called tears...were they goners or was there a glimpse of hope? _

_"3...2...1..." And it blasts, blowing the train away. The people who were under the title of 'survivors' were not in a recognizable health. Called survivors,but only because their heart was beating, no more. Call it love shield or parenthood but, Yuki,as both her parents tightly embraced her in their arms,was the only survivor with minor wounds. "**Damn you Spid...er..."** the father cursed as he breathed his last one.. "**Eh?...Fa..ther?..Mo..ther..?**" Yuki hardly uttered. _

_Fire cars, ambulances and police cars arrived, their loud siren echoing across the streets. They rescued all the people they could, Yuki, though, wasn't one of them. She clanged to her parent's sleeves and was determined to never let go unless they come with her... "**Hey! I found one!"** Pointed one of the firemen, with hope beaming from his eyes as he was happy for finding another living soul "**come here, little girl, let's get you out of here"** he encouraged, extending his hands out as his colleagues put off the fierce fire. "**No... I won't go without my parents**!" Yuki refused as she emotionally sobbed and whimpered. "**Hey! The fire! It's catching the leather of the chairs!**"another exclaimed, without further hesitation, the fireman picked Yuki up as he broke off the connection with her parents... The dead corpse, "**Mother! Father! No! Let me go! I want my parents! **"She kicked and stormed about. The man's grip, however, was too strong to shake off, Yuki didn't stop begging him to let go, but slowly as she saw the flames eat away the remains of the train with her parents inside it, she was too shocked to get tones and sounds out of her mouth. With only one name ringing in her mind "**Spider..**" Yuki fainted and woke up 2 days later in a hospital..._

* * *

Yuki, who was sleeping in her bed trembled, whispering"...spider...my fault... Shouldn't have kept...nagging" "I am .. Sorry.. Mother..father" she softly muttered. As Yuki had , another hunting nightmare from the past, her phone buzzed and ringed with a text message appearing in the glowing screen 'I am coming to japan soon - XX'

* * *

Who could the text message be from? How will Yuki get hold of the so-called 'spider'? Romance isn't far off from her life either but will her past allow her to live happily without scars? Who would be her 'knight on a white horse' that snatches her away from darkness?


	2. The Start Of Spring

Trembling in fear, Yuki struggles on her bed and is forced to open her eyes. Thunder roared and lightening seemed to divide the wide sky into two, rain broke out and a stormy night approached. Recalling her dream, Yuki covered her sweaty face with her palms and lightly gasped for air. Perhaps she had always felt this small glimpse of guilt since that incident, or maybe that incident made her more determined to catch the so called 'Spider'. 'How many times do I have to have such a gloomy memory for a nightmare?' She asked herself as she walked to the kitchen. It was about 3 am in the morning, having such a terrible storm at this time didn't show much evidence of a clear, early sky. It seemed as if the weather was just right for Yuki's mood, it would've been a waste if it wasn't so. Yuki gulped down a cold cup of water with a frown on her face, rather than tears flowing, it seemed as if such memory only brings back feeling of hatred and revenge. That didn't mean that she wouldn't cry, but recalling the incident makes her feel so disgusted at the thought of how shamelessly one could cruelly take away innocent souls for absolutely no reason!

"My hunt for you isn't over, rather, it didn't start yet, Spider! I want to make sure that you are slaughtered by the law, just you wait!" she clearly threatened. The innocent,cheerful and athletic Yuki slowly begins to take off her mask, revealing her true identity of an observing, sharp and determined girl who is willing, at any cost, to avenge her parents' death.

She climbed the stairs to her room, and soon realized that the electricity was cut because of the sudden downpour. Apparently, she was too engrossed in her thoughts, that she failed to notice her surroundings, but she eventually came back to her senses. Her phone flashed several times and she took notice of it and sat on her bed as she grabbed it to see the notification. A message from an overseas number was sent to her stating : "I will be coming to Japan soon". No sign-off name, nor is the person among the contacts, she silently stared at the screen and wondered who the sender might be... 'Coming to Japan, it says.. That means that the sender isn't from around here, but why is the message sent to me? Why isn't there a sign-off name? And more importantly, who do I know lives in Britain aside from my family? I have all of their contact information... This is just too weird' her mind suspected. Soon after, she decided to give in and get back to bed, raining or not, she has to go to school in the early morning and so, she went back to her bed as the contents of the message kept ringing in her mind and thoughts of who the sender might be.

* * *

A week has passed and nothing changed. Yuki's alarm clock kept buzzing and ringing making a very loud, annoying sound. She sighed and woke up, pushing the stuffy bed cover to the ground. She followed her usual morning routine and headed downstairs to eat her breakfast... "No news about the sender of that message,huh?" She asked as she opened her cell phone and once again her mind got busy with finding the sender's whereabouts. She prepared her usual jam sandwich and headed off. "I will be leaving now, Mother, Father" she announced and shut the door behind her. As time passed,she stopped wasting time on choosing whether to take the train or not, her mind was settled to just jog to school.

The school's gate came into view and Yuki stopped to gasp for air. Before meeting with her classmates, she snuck in the washrooms and quickly changed to her school uniform. As she was heading outside, she was spotted by Aoko.

"Oh, Morning, Yuki-chan~" Aoko greeted. "Morning, Aoko-chan... What are you doing here? Want to use the washroom?" She asked curiously. "Ah~ Nope! I figured that you would be here by now, so I thought I would come and greet you, also.." She hesitated."Also...? Was there something that you needed me for?" She interrogated. "N-nothing.. Just wanted to copy your English notes.." She replied suspiciously. Judging by Aoko's body language, Yuki doubted her reply was truthful. After giving it second thoughts though, Yuki shrugged the though off. Perhaps the events that were currently going on her life were the reason that made her think so...

'Maybe I am mistaken... There are a lot of exchange students out there..' Aoko convinced her inner mind. "If you want my notes, then better head to class" Yuki informed and so, both walked forth, greeting the people the met on their way. They entered their class, only to witness the great chaos going all around, all the students inside were enthusiastically talking about, what seems, the same topic. "They say he is from overseas" one stated. "I've heard he is from England" another added. "I hope it's a hot girl~" a boy dreamed. "Is there a new student joining?" Yuki asked, trying to follow up. "Ya!" The class breathed at once, "I.. I see" she replied as she looked at Aoko, who appeared to know and hid the news. "S-surprise?" Aoko said as cold sweat dropped from her forehead. "Ya... Why didn't you tell me?" Yuki skipped to the point and so, came the real reply this time ." There is a high possibility that the newcomer is your long-distant boyfriend, no? I wanted to tell you, but if it wasn't true, you might've gotten excited for nothing!" .Yuki simply sighed and denied both facts; her being excited and her 'long-distant boyfriend' coming, and went back to her seat,where she stared at the window, still lost in thoughts; about her mission to find the criminal who killed her parents, and about the anonymous sender of the message from a week ago. By the time the homeroom teacher entered the class, the loud discussion was lowered to whispers. "Please settle down! We have a new student to introduce today" she informed. The students took their seats and patiently waited for the student to enter, meanwhile, Yuki was completely lost that she didn't even pay attention to what was going on around her, but she did feel the sudden noise shut down.

"April 26, 9:01,32 seconds, and 41 milliseconds." Spoke the transfer student. The speaker's words attracted Kaito's attention and as he turned to look at the speaker...

"I transferred from London Bridge High School." added the new student. Now Kaitou was sure the words weren't new, it definitely familiar 'Huh? This phrase was from...' he thought, trying to recall data from his mind. "I am Hakuba Saguru. Nice to meet you" introduced the red eyed brunette, with a confident grin drawing on his face.

Kaitou finally remembered! It's _the Hakuba Saguru _that almost caught him the day before, the hard-to-handle detective.'For...For reals?!' With a wide eye, exclaimed the poor Kaitou in surprise as the girls in the class practically had eyes of hearts, admiring the hot, cool and sexy transfer student.

* * *

"Sa...Sa-chan?" Yuki voiced, not able to believe the fact that her very best, childhood friend was right in front of her eyes. The one, whom she had always admired and loved. Without second thoughts,she stood up, passed the desks in her way and directly jumped off in his arms "**Sa-chan I missed you so much!" **She voiced in English, not minding the crowd with a dropped jaw around her. **"I told you I was coming back, didn't I?" **He gently hugged her back, forgetting about his surroundings too, but then the sweet moment came to an end when Hakuba came back to his senses and noticed the situation they were in "**Yuki... The class... Us..**" He whispered as his cheeks expressed his embarrassment. Yuki suddenly realized her position and shrieked with a jump, as she flashed red. Words couldn't express how embarrassed she was from herself and the situation she was in.

"Eh?!" Screeched the surprised students in the class. Their teacher herself, was at a loss of words as she blushed at how the young students can get so bold , and especially the quit Yuki in her class.

"They're an item?" One asked. "So he is the long distant boyfriend!" Another deduced, "good for you Yuki-chan!" Aoko cheered , signaling to her blushing friend.

"But.. We are...aren't like that.." Yuki tried to explain to the over hyped crowed, but without success. "Why don't you sit by the end, beside Asaoka-San, Hakuba-kun?" The teacher finally voiced. Hakuba just nodded as he walked ahead, Yuki, with a warm face, followed quietly as the teacher tried to calm the class down. "Lucky you Man! Getting the famous Asaoka Yuki like that" said the boy sitting in front of Hakuba as he sighed with jealousy "W-what do you mean?" queried the confused Hakuba, but the boy was too busy with his own thoughts to reply.

The recess bell rang with Hakuba still confused, but decided to look around the school for a bit and asked Yuki to help him since she was the closest to him. "What's up with all the rumors about the boyfriend topic?" He finally asked. Then, he shook his head, remembering to ask a more important question "Yuki... Do you.. Have a boyfriend?" he softly spoke , hoping to get a negative answer "No I don't ... Actually, I have something to talk to you about.." She hesitated as they sat on a bench by the Cherry tree. Hakuba sighed in relief with a small grin on his face,"So.. What is it that you wanted to talk about?" He returned to the point. Yuki slowly swallowed, with a shy expression.

"Actually..." She began," I.. Wanted to ask you a favor.. The thing is..." She started narrating her story about being continuously confessed to by guys and her having to lie about saying that she has a foreign Boyfriend overseas, Hakuba listened carefully and waited until Yuki concluded ," and so... I... Want you to act... As my boyfriend... Just acting!" She requested as her face got warmer- a reaction for her sudden request. Hakuba's reaction was no different, he didn't know how to answer, but deep down he was probably jumping with joy. He fake coughed and then returned to his composed self once again,"I ... Understand... I Shall be your boyfriend then, Yuki... I mean no one knows you better anyways..." He explained.

She smiled at his explanation and gave a relieved expression as they headed back to their class. "So.. You are my Girlfriend now,huh?" he asked, trying to make sure that he didn't get the wrong point. "Nope~ I am your _fake _girlfriend, if you ever fall for someone, just tell me and I'll immediately back off" she stated with a rather serious tone.

'I already did...long, long back.'

* * *

The two went back on their seats , as the classes began, the Cherry Blossoms once again started falling, the wind hissed and the nature signaled the start of spring.


End file.
